Roasted Corn Salad

You can do this the easy way, or if you want to spend more time in the kitchen and feel all virtuous and authentic, you can do it the hard way.

2 cups roasted corn
1 diced English cucumber
1 diced red bell pepper
1 diced very small white onion
1 can rinsed and drained black beans
1 tsp cumin powder
cayenne pepper powder to taste (about 4 shakes)
juice of 1/2 a fresh lime

The hard way: Soak 2 ears of corn in water for at least one hour. Grill over medium heat about 7 minutes, turning every 2 minutes to cook each side. Let cool, then shuck and slice corn kernels off the cob.

The easy way: Buy a bag of Trader Joe's frozen roasted corn. Scoop out 2 cups corn, and don't bother to thaw.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. The frozen corn will chill the other ingredients. If you use fresh roasted you will need to chill the salad for an hour.

Salade Nicoise

Recently I ordered this lunch dish at Cafe Luluc in Carroll Gardens. The following recipe is roughly, but not exactly, based on what appeared on my plate. The restaurant served canned tuna and canned olives; I would prefer it as indicated below. Also, it is important to use fresh, not frozen tuna, as frozen fish does not have the same buttery consistency as fresh. This recipe serves four.

1 lb fresh ahi tuna, sushi grade, about 3/4 inch thick
1 to 2 tbsp olive oil
2/3 head Romaine lettuce, chopped into small bite-size pieces
4 hard boiled eggs, thinly sliced
1 cup brine-cured black olives
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
2/3 English cucumber, sliced into thin coins
large handful string beans, trimmed and steamed tender-crisp
1 shallot, finely chopped
12 - 16 anchovy fillets, oil cured

Dressing:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup light olive oil
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, pushed thru press
salt and pepper to taste

For tuna, pour a small amount of olive oil into a saute pan and bring heat to high. Sear tuna on each side about a minute to a minute and a half, enough so that the outside is browned or even blackened, but the center is still pink and raw. Season with a tiny bit of salt and pepper.

Whisk together all dressing ingredients and reserve 4 tbps dressing. Toss remaining dressing with lettuce only. Take into account that your guests will be mixing in other salad components on their own, so it's ok to use slightly more dressing than you would use if it were just the lettuce.

Arrange a mound of lettuce at top center of plate. Place seared tuna directly on top of the lettuce and drizzle with a tablespoon of dressing. Create rows of the remaining salad ingredients, except for anchovies, in a radiant design, starting at the lettuce and extending to the edges of the plate.

Garnish tuna with 3 or 4 anchovy fillets.

Allow guests to combine lettuce and veggies to their liking on the plate.

Lettuce-less Salad with Divine Dressing

This is derived from a salad I've had in many French bistros. All veggies should be very fresh and of course, washed and dried thoroughly.

Salad:
1 large bulb fennel, diced
2 heads endive, halved lengthwise and then sliced thinly
1 head endive, leaves separated for serving
grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1/3 cup broken walnuts
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 firm pear
(if you do not have a good pear, you can use 1/2 an English cucumber, cut into coins and then quartered, it will give the same cooling, neutralizing effect)

Dressing:
2 tbs warmed honey
1 tbs country dijon mustard
small handful fresh parsley, minced
1/4 c. olive oil
about 3 tbs canola oil
1/3 c. rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp white wine
salt & pepper

First, heat the honey so it is easier to incorporate into the dressing. Whisk it together with the rest of the dressing ingredients. It should be thin, sweet and slightly tart from the wine & vinegar. Let stand on the counter for a couple of hours so the flavors meld.

Peel and quarter pear and remove center and seeds. Slice each quarter on an angle so you get bite-size pieces that are about 1/4 inch thick. Grill the raw pear slices in your toaster oven about 2 minutes per side. If you are in a rush, don't bother to grill it, raw is delicious too.

Chop fennel, tomatoes, and endive as directed above and toss with walnuts, pear slices, parsley, and dressing. Arrange 5 whole endive leaves on plate in a star pattern, leaving a space in the center, and fill each leaf with dressed salad. Mound additional salad in center of star. Garnish with blue cheese crumbles.